. In 1839, Swiss immigrant John Sutter received permission to start a colony in California near Sacramento River.
. In January 1848, a carpenter named James Marshall while building sawmill beside a nearby river found gold.
. Sutter's workers quit to search for gold and news of the discovery spread across America.
.President Polk added to the national excitement by confirming the California gold strike in his farewell message to Congress in December 1848.
. In 1849 about 80,000 gold-seekers came to California.
